{"id":422537,"date":"2026-04-29T00:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/422537\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T00:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T00:48:12","slug":"taoiseach-leads-tributes-to-former-lord-mayor-of-cork-donal-counihan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/422537\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach leads tributes to former lord mayor of Cork Donal Counihan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">The Taoiseach has led tributes to former lord mayor of Cork Donal Counihan, who has passed away at the age of 84.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Counihan died in Marymount Hospice on Monday, surrounded by his family, following an illness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He and his wife Breda were married 59 years this month, and he would have celebrated his 85th birthday on May 27.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A lifelong supporter of Fianna F\u00e1il, Mr Counihan canvassed for \u00c9amon de Valera as a young boy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">First elected to what was then Cork Corporation in 1979, he served as a councillor for the city\u2019s south-east ward on several councils across the next three decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Counihan served as lord mayor of Cork in 2007-2008, and during his term he conferred the Freedom of Cork on former taoiseach Albert Reynolds and former UK prime minister John Major in recognition of their roles in the peace process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Although he lost his seat in 2009, Mr Counihan remained active in party politics, and in community and civic life, for many years after his time as an elected member of Cork City Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A lifelong member of Blackrock Hurling Club, he was a passionate supporter of Cork GAA.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5058467_4_articleinline_Donal_20Counihan.jpg\" alt=\"The Taoiseach paid tribute to his &quot;great friend&quot; Donal Counihan\" title=\"The Taoiseach paid tribute to his &quot;great friend&quot; Donal Counihan\" class=\"card-img\"\/>The Taoiseach paid tribute to his &#8220;great friend&#8221; Donal Counihan<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said he was deeply saddened to learn of the death of \u201ca tremendous community activist and cared deeply about his community and city\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cDonal was passionate about Cork. He was a wonderful public representative and was in politics for all the right reasons, to improve the lives of the people and community he represented,\u201d Mr Martin said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cDonal was a great raconteur and was always very interested in people. He was a great listener and had many great stories, which he would readily share.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cA loyal member of Fianna F\u00e1il since his teenage years, he would often regale us with stories of the many \u00c1rd Fheiseanna he attended down the decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cHe worked with all the great Cork political giants including Jack Lynch, Pearse Wyse, Gene Fitzgerald and Se\u00e1n French.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5058410_10_articleinline_Copy_20of_20733817.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured at the presentation of a specially bound book on \u00c9amon de Valera to Jack Lynch were from the left: Prof John A Murphy, co-author Dr Paddy O'Carroll, co-author Prof Tadhg O'Ciardha, Cork University Press, Jack Lynch, Donal Counihan, Cork University Press.\" title=\"Pictured at the presentation of a specially bound book on \u00c9amon de Valera to Jack Lynch were from the left: Prof John A Murphy, co-author Dr Paddy O'Carroll, co-author Prof Tadhg O'Ciardha, Cork University Press, Jack Lynch, Donal Counihan, Cork University Press.\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Pictured at the presentation of a specially bound book on \u00c9amon de Valera to Jack Lynch were from the left: Prof John A Murphy, co-author Dr Paddy O&#8217;Carroll, co-author Prof Tadhg O&#8217;Ciardha, Cork University Press, Jack Lynch, Donal Counihan, Cork University Press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cDonal had a great sense of history, and particularly Cork history, and made a great contribution to Cork life and our deeper understanding of it through his involvement with the Cork University Press,\u201d the Taoiseach said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cDonal was a wonderful public representative, a warm and convivial man who left a significant mark on Cork and on Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cMoreover, Donal was a wise and valued friend. We will miss him greatly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy, said Mr Counihan had been committed to public service, to local government and to Cork city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cDonal\u2019s term as Lord Mayor was characterised by dignity and integrity &#8211; traits he displayed throughout his political and private life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cHe had a strong connection to many voluntary groups, to charities and local organisations, and he was a great supporter of the many social, cultural, and sporting initiatives across the city,\u201d Mr Dennehy said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cHe will be remembered not only for how he held office, but for how he treated people. He was always open and approachable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cHis dedication to Cork and to its people will long be remembered, and his contribution to civic life remains an important part of the city\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI would like to extend my condolences to his family, his friends, and all who knew him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cAr dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a anam.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Counihan is survived by Breda, their children Niamh, Gillian and Kieran, grandchildren, Mark, Luke, Matthew, Grace and Ava, extended family and a wide circle of friends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Counihan will repose at O\u2019Connor\u2019s Temple Hill Funeral Home, Boreenmanna Rd on Thursday, April 30, from 4pm to 5pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Requiem Mass will be held at midday on Friday, May 1, in St Michael\u2019s Church, Blackrock, with funeral afterwards to St Finbarr\u2019s Cemetery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A book of condolences will be opened in Cork City Hall later this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Taoiseach has led tributes to former lord mayor of Cork Donal Counihan, who has passed away at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-422537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}